Fire-Grilled Steak with Steakhouse Butter

The only thing better than a fire-grilled steak is the same steak with a round of flavoured butter slowly melting overtop, forming a rich, tasty sauce as it mingles with the steak’s juices. For the ultimate grilled steak experience, try taking the time to build a hardwood fire in your backyard!

for the steak:
4 thick New York Striploins, sirloins or rib-eye steaks
a sprinkle or two sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Procedure

For the steakhouse butter, stir all the ingredients together until thoroughly combined.

Place a piece of plastic wrap on your work surface. Scoop the butter along the edge, forming a log shape roughly 4 inches long. Roll the butter once so it is nearly covered in the plastic wrap, then gently roll further. Tightly roll up the plastic wrap, grasp the ends of the plastic and twirl the works a few times, tightening the butter into a perfect round log.

Refrigerate or freeze for several hours or overnight until the butter is firm enough to slice.

For the steaks, build a hardwood fire and let it burn down to a thick bed of glowing hot coals, or preheat your grill to its highest setting. Just before you begin to cook them, pat the steaks dry and season them heavily with salt and pepper.

Position them on the grill at a 45-degree angle to the grill grates. After a few minutes turn them 90 degrees to get the perfect steakhouse grill marks. Flip and repeat. Continue cooking until the steaks reach the doneness you prefer. Serve each steak with a thick slice of steakhouse butter on top.

You may press steaks with your finger to gauge doneness; they stiffen as they cook through. This will take some time to master but it’s a skill worth cultivating. You can also do what every novice professional cook does when the chef isn’t looking: cut a small slice in the centre and have a peek!

Variation

Try rubbing the each steak with a halved garlic clove before you season and grill.